The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach tree, denominated "Ryans Sun," broadly characterized by its full freestone fruit having a dark red color with bright yellow flesh and more particularly to such a peach tree wherein the fruit has very firm and crisp flesh with a skin which is tenacious to the flesh and which ripens for picking in the last week of August after the patented O'Henry peach in the San Joaquin Valley of California.
The commercial market for fresh fruit is dependent to a large degree upon varieties which produce fruit possessing those characteristics allowing the fruit to withstand the rigors of picking, packing and shipping without appreciable damage in appearance or quality. Since such fruit must frequently be shipped great distances under conditions such as to cause substantial deterioration in fruit of the less hardy varieties, a major share of the commercial market is composed of the more durable varieties. The commercial value of such fruit is enhanced where it is of high color and reaches maturity late in the season. The O'Henry peach tree (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,964) has good qualities in many of these respects. The variety of the present invention produces fruit of very good shipping quality in that its flesh is very firm and crisp with a skin which is tenacious to the flesh thereby resisting damage in handling and shipping. The fruit is further characterized by its deep red color which provides an attractive and appealing appearance enhancing its commercial value. The fruit is still further characterized by its ripening time which is after the O'Henry peach. Thus, the fruit of the instant variety possesses many of the best commercial attributes of the O'Henry peach, but is distinct therefrom, among other respects in ripening after the O'Henry peach.